Re: PCN - National Parks and Properties
Discount about to Expire Aug 28th
Drove to the Castillo de San Marcos in St Augustine, FL and
purchased lifetime national park passes. The tickets allowed us into the
fortress and we even got to watch a period uniformed crew loading and firing a
cannon. It was a good day!
Thank you for the heads up advice. Ron Flug
Thank you for the heads up advice. Ron Flug
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A few representative
congrats regarding my “2nd” retirement (I appreciate all well wishes
received)
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From: Gerald Grieser
Date: 8/24/2017 1:50:25 PM
Subject: Congratulations Mark!
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Congratulations to you Mark on your retirement. I hope you
enjoy your retirement as much as I have. I retired Nov. 1996 at 55 to miss the
Post 97 category which worked for 10 years. I have never looked back even
though I loved doing what I was doing, and never regretted giving up my flying
career. We are very busy every day doing volunteering with church and our local
police department plus many other little things. My aunt who made it to 103,
said it is better to wear out than rust out.
Thank you so much for all you do for us with the PCN, and I
hope it continues. The very best to you and your family. Just don’t try to
alphabetize your wife seasonings, or mess with her things in the kitchen and
you will be OK.
Blessings,
Gerry Grieser
DFW
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From: Stu Evans
Date: 8/26/2017 11:34:31 AM
Subject: Thanks
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Marc....just want to wish you a peaceful retirement and
thankyou for your work on PCN. God Bless.
Stu Evans
DAL Capt. Ret. LAX
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From: Mike Ward
Date: 8/25/2017 11:15:35 AM
Subject: Congratulations
Mark
Congratulations on a well deserved second retirement.
Seems like just last year I joined you in MIA for your 767 refresher ride prior
to your interview.
I know all too well the heartache you are feeling. I
felt the same way leaving Delta at the end of 20 years.
I continue to poke around the edges of aviation, however not
a lot of flying opportunities for a 70+ retired guy. I had a King Air gig
for awhile, but the new owners didn't like all the grey hair, so the DO, CP and
any pilot over age 30 were gradually shown the door. As it turned out
that airplane left the fleet anyway but that is corporate aviation.
I appreciate all you have done on the PCN blog; I assume you
will keep it going in your retirement
A comment on ticketsatwork
I tried to sign up for an account but you need a DELTA code
and that is only supplied to the employee by Delta. If you can break the
code, please let me know
Again congratulations on a successful conclusion of this
chapter
regards
Mike Ward
JFk 7ERA retired
From: Joel Payne
Date: 8/25/2017 8:57:45 PM
Subject: PCN #277
Mark;
First- Congrats on wrapping up
ANOTHER career. You may find there is NOT enough time to do all the things you
want to do, even though retired. How did we do it while still working?
Second- Came out of SNN to JFK
around 24 July from our nearly annual visit to Ireland. Must have been about
200 service folks standing around. Talked to a few and they were on their way
HOME. Maybe you were taking them.
Thirdly- Appreciate all the
travel links in this issue, HOWEVER, when I click on any of the *"Find out
more"* links, I get this-
and then a BLANK page. Tried
using "Google Docs". But when I do, NONE of the links are
"hot". Any hints as to what I'm doing wrong. Looks like VERY useful
information. Try and sleep in, if that's possible.
Joel Payne
Editor: LINKS FOR DELTA DISCOUNTS – some of the links
that were copied in my piece highlighting hotels and car companies did not
transfer so they were took you to error page.
PLEASE VISIT EXTRANET AND FOLLOW THIS PATH TO GET TO DELTA PERKS:
DELTANET>HR>BENEFITS>
(bottom of left column) PERKS & DISCOUNTS> (then click button in page
center for) DELTA PERKS
Note:
Please remember that hotel discounts are sometimes best not at corporate
level but by calling individual hotels that house layover crews. To see list divided by alphabet enter: DeltNet>(then search “Crew
Layover Hotels”)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: dbina@comcast.net
To: DWSkjerven@aol.com
Sent: 8/31/2017 7:34:37 AM Central Standard Time
Subject: delta
To: DWSkjerven@aol.com
Sent: 8/31/2017 7:34:37 AM Central Standard Time
Subject: delta
Delta Will Promote
Pilots to Captain-if They Can Fly This Aging Plane
Since almost the
beginning of the commercial airline business, junior pilots have had to toil
years in the second chair waiting to win a pair of captain's wings. Now Delta
Air Lines Inc. is offering them the chance to vault into a captain's seat in as
little as six months. The catch? The promotion requires flying an unloved,
aging plane nicknamed the "Mad Dog" that Delta plans to retire in
three years.
The McDonnell Douglas
Corp. MD-88 jets are the oldest aircraft in operation at any major U.S.
carrier. They come with quirks such as glare-prone skylight panels called
"eyebrow windows" that were common when pilots sometimes navigated by
the stars. And they're so noisy that some New York politicians, including U.S.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, cheered when Delta recently pulled the
planes from New York's LaGuardia Airport.
Now the jets are helping
to topple traditional timetables on pilot careers, as Delta awaits deliveries
of new aircraft and contends with a graying pool of aviators. Senior pilots shun
the MD-88s for newer Airbus SE or Boeing Co. jets, now the industry's standard
equipment. But some junior co-pilots who covet the prestige and higher salaries
awarded captains aren't so choosy.
"The good side of
M-88 is that there is such HATE for it that seniority happens in crazy
fashion," read one recent post on a Delta pilot forum. "In one year
you will be able to hold holidays and weekends off."
Unionized pilots
typically progress from the right-hand first officer's seat to the left-hand
captain's perch, and from small to large jetliners. Moving from first officer
to captain historically was an 8- or 10-year process and occasionally has
dropped to two or three years in boom times, says Kit Darby, a pilot consultant
based in an Atlanta suburb. Veterans with the most seniority get first pick of
choice assignments, such as flying the Boeing 747 jumbo on routes to Asia.
Junior pilots might only claim a captain's seat on the 110-seat Boeing 717, or
a first officer's role on a larger plane.
But some Delta pilots
who are willing to accept the worst assignments-flying an MD-88 or sharing a
crash pad in Queens and flying out of New York-are upgrading fast. One pilot
hired in January was a captain by June, according to a company memo to pilots.
Moving up within six months is "not unheard of," says Delta spokesman
Michael Thomas, and less-tenured pilots flying the MD-88 aren't any less
qualified than those at the controls of bigger jets. "We hire folks who
have the qualifications and airmanship and aptitude to become captains with
Delta," Thomas says.
Still, that's the
fastest career development for pilots among the Big Three U.S. carriers,
according to pilots and industry advisers. Some American Airlines Group Inc.
pilots have advanced in less than two years on the 99-seat Embraer E190
regional jet, American spokesman Joshua Freed says. United Continental Holdings
Inc. has no similar cases of such quick promotions, according to a United
spokeswoman.
"Almost every pilot
I talk to, when I tell them people are upgrading to captain within a year, they
all go, 'Wow, you're kidding!' " says Louis Smith, president of the firm
Future & Active Pilot Advisors. "It's almost unheard of in the
business."
Upgrading can mean a big
bump in pay. A first-year first officer at a major airline makes about $86 an
hour with a significant raise in Year Two, while a new captain makes about $220
an hour, Smith says. Pilots say about $180,000 is typical annual pay for
first-year captains after they've completed training.
Other carriers may wind
up with similar fast-track options if the shortage of airline pilots gets
worse, as expected. About half the pilots at 10 large U.S. airlines will hit
the retirement age of 65 by 2026, Darby says. The problem is more acute at
regional carriers, which are lobbying to relax a requirement that commercial
pilots have at least 1,500 hours of flight time.
Lifestyle and pay
packages that reward co-pilots on long-haul aircraft are also making it harder
for Delta to staff the MD-88. A first officer with 10 years' experience on the
long-range Boeing 747 makes about $221,000 a year, roughly the same as a
first-year captain on the shorter-range Boeing 717, according to Delta pay
tables viewed by Bloomberg. And Delta's Thomas says that the MD-88, the Boeing
717, and other short-haul planes require pilots to fly many more legs than
longer-haul jets, and some aviators don't want that kind of schedule.
"International
widebody pilots hold the best schedules and work the fewest days because of the
nature of the flying they do," says Sam Mayer, a longtime American
Airlines pilot. "A lot of guys are finding out they'd rather stay at first
officer" on the bigger aircraft than move up to captain of a smaller jet
with a less desirable schedule.
The MD-88, a workhorse
on shorter flights since 1988, has controls and checklists that feel antiquated
and counterintuitive to pilots who face demanding training before they can
switch aircraft types. Then there's a cockpit described as a "cage"
by Dennis Tajer, who flew a similar-vintage sister McDonnell aircraft nicknamed
the Super 80 for a decade at American before ascending to the Boeing 737. The
McDonnell flight deck is "very small, narrow, and unforgiving for any
pilot that would like to spread his or her wings," says Tajer, a spokesman
for American's pilot union.
Still, the MD-88 has its
fans. Delta has redone the interiors of even its older jets, so passengers
probably can't tell it's so old, says Rene de Lambert, who pens a Delta
frequent-flier blog called Rene's Points. Also, the plane's configuration, with
two seats on one side of the aisle and three on the other, means the MD-88 has
fewer dreaded middle seats than many planes, he says.
"Yeah, if you're in
the back it's noisy, but most people are going to be sad to see it go," de
Lambert says. "It will be missed. Of course, it's not flying over my
house."
The MD-88 is almost
certainly headed for aviation's boneyards. There are only two other operators
beyond Delta: Allegiant Air, which is also retiring its fleet, and an obscure
Iranian carrier, Taban Air, according to Planespotters.net. "Delta has
remodeled all of their MD-88s, but it's like an old car that's been spruced
up," Tajer says. "It's not like sitting down in a brand-new
Cadillac." -With Mary Schlangenstein
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Full post disclaimer in left column. PCN Home Page is located at: http://pcn.homestead.com/home01.html
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